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2008 news archive

Nature - 17 December 2008Newsmaker of the year: The machine maker "...The next machine the community wants to build will be an electron machine, like LEP, but linear rather than a loop. If its 30-kilometre rifle barrel is ever built, it is unlikely to be in the suburbs and farms around CERN..."

Nature - 2 December 2008Can triniobium tin shrink accelerators? Exotic superconductors promise savings. "...Although a distant goal, achieving such gradients could result in huge savings for future accelerators. For example, the US$7-billion International Linear Collider (ILC) — a wished for next-generation particle accelerator — will need thousands of cavities, stretching along a tunnel 31 kilometres long, to help it produce energies of 500 gigaelectronvolts..."

Nature - 26 November 2008Editorial: Friendly rivalry "The spirit of collaboration in the race to define the LHC's successor sets an example for large projects..."

physicsworld.com - 31 October 2008Condensed-matter physicist to head DESY "...Dosch will see DESY take an important role in XFEL, the European X–ray Free Electron Laser, which is being built next to the lab’s Hamburg site. He will also oversee DESY’s ongoing contribution to the development of new technologies for the International Linear Collider — the next big particle physics experiment after the LHC..."

Physicsworld blog - 15 October 2008STFC gives extra money for grants "...We have known for a few months now which facilities would be funded by the STFC in full — and which, like the Gemini telescopes and the ILC, would see the UK’s involvement cut back. What was not known, though, was how much research grants would be slashed..."

Timesonline - 14 October 2008Where have our Nobel physics prizes gone? "International reputations are vital in particle physics, which is far too expensive and complicated to be carried out by single countries. Whichever nation ends up hosting the international linear collider, it would reap scientific and economic rewards..."

physicsworld.com - 9 October 2008Japan shows interest in hosting the ILC "Since the Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded this week to three Japanese-born researchers, it seems like Japan has gone particle-physics crazy, or at least the Japanese government has. So much so that Japan now wants to host the next big experiment in particle physics — the International Linear Collider (ILC)..."

AFP - 8 October 2008Japan ready to host new 'Big-Bang' project "..."We want to make arrangements so that Japan can take on leadership," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, the government's spokesman..."

Nature - 2 October 2008Independent panel passes judgement on UK physicsWakeham review praises state of discipline and recommends ways it can move forward. "...The panel did recommend that more could be done to protect funding for particle physics and astronomy. In particular it suggested that the council appeal to the government for additional funding for particle physics and astronomy to "avoid the undesired tensioning of these grants and facilities support against national facilities"..."

Nature - 2 October 2008Commentary: UK physics gets a health check "The field is healthy, says Bill Wakeham, but scientists need to reclaim the intellectual ownership of research at the margins of the discipline such as medical or atmospheric physics..."

The Times - 2 October 2008Britain's reputation as physics leader 'harmed by £80m crisis' "... That echoed the MPs' report, which said that pulling out of projects such as the International Linear Collider, a next-generation atom-smasher that would succeed the Large Hadron Collider, had made Britain appear to be an “unreliable and incompetent” international partner..."

Physics World(20th anniversary issue) 1 October 2008Editorial: Two decades and counting... "...It will be intriguing to think what my successor in 20 years’ time — assuming that Physics World still exists — will make of this status report. By then, practical quantum computers could well be used for research and high-temperature superconductors will be common in power cables. The International Linear Collider is likely to be up and running, and fusion power should be nearing as a commercial reality..."

Times Higher Education - 18 September 2008Denham goes back to basics on funding for science "...Investment in the LHC began more than 20 years ago under the Thatcher Government, but it was continued under Labour. Mr Denham praised it as a genuinely international project "of which we have far too few". He denied that recent moves by the STFC to stop investment in the International Linear Collider and 4GLS project at Daresbury meant that the LHC marked the end of government funding for big particle-physics projects. He said that in these cases, the science behind them dictated that they were not priorities for investment. "There will be something after the LHC - but that will come as a decision that takes place in light of what people know and in the next generation of technology," he said..."

nationalacademies.org - 16 September 2008Physics Milestone: Large Hadron Collider Activated "On Sept. 10 CERN -- the European Organization for Nuclear Research -- successfully steered a beam of particles around the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, which was built to help scientists resolve some key questions in particle physics and has the potential to revolutionize human understanding of the known universe..."

Sunday Times - 14 September 2008Sit tight, a bigger bang is coming "THE vast new Cern particle collider has only just hummed into life, but physicists are already drawing up plans for a still larger machine to answer the questions even Albert Einstein was unable to resolve..."

ZDNet - 11 September 2008LHC a sure sign that Europe is the center of physics "What will the US role be for the next major project, the International Linear Collider? The US is supposedly interested but it will have to compete with newly rich nations like China and India that boast serious scientific minds of their own. Beijing just hosted an exploratory meeting on hosting the ILC...."

MSNBC - 11 September 2008Europe leaps ahead on physics frontier Chapter 4: Collider becomes international magnet for brain power "...That doesn't mean CERN has a lock on the next Big Bang Machine. The United States and other nations are also interested in at least a piece of the action. That includes the rising stars in science and technology, such as China and India. Just last year, Beijing hosted an exploratory meeting for designing the International Linear Collider, the particle-physics project regarded as the successor to the LHC..."

New Scientist - 10 September 2008Interview: The man behind the 'God particle' (subscription required) "...The LHC is scheduled to run for at least 20 years, but Higgs says funds for its planned successor, the International Linear Collider, need to be put in place now to ensure it will be ready to take over..."

Channel 4 News - 10 September 2008Q&A: the Large Hadron Collider "They are drawing up plans for the next big smasher: the International Linear Collider, to be based in the US. If the LHC doesn't find lots of interesting things, they worry the money men might walk away from the ILC. So it's all eyes on the LHC for the next couple of years...."

Daily Telegraph (AU) - 10 September 2008Will atom smasher signal end of the world? "The dream outcome of this science thriller for Fermilab would be a sequel: the International Linear Collider, an even bigger and more expensive device that would build on the European collider's findings. There's no word yet on whether the proposed collider would pose a threat to life as we know it..."

Free Republic - 10 September 20085 Things You Need to Know About the Large Hadron Collider Now "Today, there are a number of LHC-assisting programs either directly or indirectly competing for funding and support. The International Linear Collider (ILC), for example, is envisioned as a slightly longer accelerator, with a 30-km tunnel that would bend slightly to accommodate the curvature of the Earth..."

Nature - 10 September 2008Collision course "...Much time, effort and money were put into planning the International Linear Collider (ILC), a successor to the LHC that Fermilab hoped to build in Illinois. The future of the ILC is now tenuous at best. "You cannot expect to go on for a decade without capital investment and still have competitive facilities," Oddone says. "There's a real crunch right now."..."

Money Week - 9 September 2008What is the world's biggest machine costing us? "And there'll be longer-term benefits in the training of top-notch scientists and engineers, and "the maintenance of a vibrant world-class UK research base". What's more, another journey to the centre of the earth in on the agenda; the LHC's successor is already being discussed. For now, the International Linear Collider (ILC) is still being planned and no location has been agreed. But it would be the next step in allowing scientists to explore in detail the LHC's findings..."

Boston Globe - 8 September 2008All eyes on collider as it comes to life "...What scientists discover at the Large Hadron Collider will also help set the path for the next big experiment, the International Linear Collider, which will smash together another family of particles, called leptons..."

Chicago Tribune - 7 September 2008WHEN THEORIES COLLIDE Why the Earth could end when the new collider fires up "...The dream outcome of this science thriller for Fermilab would be a sequel: the International Linear Collider, an even bigger and more expensive device that would build on the European collider's findings. There's no word yet on whether the proposed collider would pose a threat to life as we know it..."

Beacon News - 12 August 2008Fermilab applauds input from neighbors "Over a year and a half, a group of 27 people from 13 Fox Valley communities have been learning all they can about Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the International Linear Collider..."

The Beacon News - 9 August 2008Our work, in the name of science "... When I first joined the task force, my focus was on local issues. Gradually, I came to appreciate the ILC as being one piece of a much bigger puzzle..."

CERN - 7 August 2008CERN announces start-up date for LHC "CERN has today announced that the first attempt to circulate a beam in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be made on 10 September..."

Nature - 17 July 2008Editorial: An uneasy peace "Britain's 'big science' funding agency is now in a position to regain much-needed credibility..."

CNRS international magazine - 10 July 2008Opening up to Asia "...CNRS has now firmly set its gaze towards the East. Since 2006, three International Associated Laboratories in the field of particle physics have been created with Japan, China, and South Korea. (...) This joint collaboration has focused on the LHC and on the International Linear Collider (ILC) project, a linear particle accelerator that will eventually come to complete LHC results, in the early 2020s..."

Nature - 8 July 2008Spending plan appeases UK physicists "...The council will still forgo participation in the International Linear Collider, for example, but will set aside £1 million pounds for research and development into something similar, and £10 million a year for advanced accelerators..."

Physics World - 3 July 2008UK physics funding plans are approved "...This includes UK involvement with the International Linear Collider (ILC) — the next big particle-physics facility after CERN’s Large Hadron Collider..."

Physics World - 18 June 2008No extra cash for UK physics "Any remaining hopes that the UK government might plug an £80m hole in the nation's physics-research budget were dashed yesterday..."

nature - 4 June 2008Physicists to target neutrinos: US switches focus from colliders "...The recommendations to continue ILC research and development are "okay", says Barry Barish, a high-energy physicist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, who heads the ILC design effort. "But it isn't an aggressive programme to bring the ILC to the United States."..."

New Scientist - 4 June 2008Reasons for optimism over US particle physics (Subscription required) "...Among the big losers in the cuts were those involved in the International Linear Collider, which was suspended in December. The panel added that the need for the ILC is not yet proven and so construction should not be guaranteed...."

Physics World - June 2008ILC is best bar none (Subscription required) "Fan clubs are commonplace for pop groups, sports teams and film stars, but probably not the norm for physics experiments, especially when the experiment in question has not even been built yet..."

Science - 30 May 2008PARTICLE PHYSICS: Does Fermilab Have a Future? "...Some physicists say it's unfair to blame the ILC for the demise of smaller experiments. In tight budgets, those projects simply weren't worth the costs, they say..."

New Scientist - 30 May 2008US particle physics spared the axe "...A panel of senior physicists reporting to the Department of Energy (DoE), the main US funder for accelerator laboratories, said that it should be possible for the US to commit to several cutting-edge projects including a new US-based linear collider, which had been threatened by budget cuts..."

Science - 30 May 2008PARTICLE PHYSICS: Whither the International Linear Collider? (Subscription required) "Efforts to develop the International Linear Collider (ILC), a 40-kilometer-long, straight-shot particle smasher, have taken some thumps in the past 16 months. But like a seasoned pugilist, the ILC has rolled with the blows, project leaders say..."

interactions - 16 May 2008Brian Foster elected Fellow of the UK’s Royal Society "Professor Brian Foster, European Regional Director for the International Linear Collider and head of the Department of Particle Physics at Oxford University, has today been elected Fellow of the Royal Society for his leadership in the development of particle accelerators and detectors..."

Physics World - 8 May 2008Nobel laureates petition Bush over funding shortfall "A group of 20 Nobel-prize-winning physicists have written to US President George Bush, asking him to work with Congress to find at least $510m in “emergency supplemental funding” for the agencies that pay for much of the nation’s physics research..."

The Engineer - 30 April 2008Comment: Facing the black hole "...It’s also damaged the UK’s involvement in some of the most ambitious major research, including the plans for the giant International Linear Collider to investigate phenomena that even CERN won’t be able to observe..."

The Times - 30 April 2008Top physicist is urged to quit over failings, flaws and secrets "..."We deplore STFC’s failure to consult on ILC, Gemini and solar terrestrial physics, a failure that has cost it the trust of the scientific community," it said. "We conclude that the STFC's peer-review system is inadequate"..."

BBC - 30 April 2008Science cuts 'hit UK reputation' "The UK has been left looking like an "unreliable" and "incompetent" partner for international science, according to a committee of MPs..."

Physics World - 30 April 2008Report slams UK's leading physics funding agency "...According to the report, the fact that these decisions were made with little or no consultation cost the STFC the trust of the scientific community, and the way the ILC and Gemini decisions have played out make the UK look like an "unreliable" and "incompetent" international partner, respectively..."

CERN Courier - 16 April 2008Terascale Alliance takes off in Germany "...The next big advances in particle physics are expected to happen at the "terascale". The tremendous complexity and size of experiments at the LHC and the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC) challenge the way that physicists have traditionally worked in high-energy physics..."

Telegraph.co.uk - 14 April 2008Brian May attacks science research cuts "...and leading to the UK pulling out of the next generation, a linear collider. Thousands of physicsts have protested, including prominent figures such as Lord Rees, astronomer royal, and Prof Stephen Hawking..."

Physics World - 10 April 2008Peer review informed ILC pull-out "The UK government claims that the controversial decision to pull the country out of plans for the International Linear Collider (ILC) was taken on the basis of peer review..."

Physics World - 8 April 2008At 78, scientist hopes for proof soon that he was right about the Universe "...Speaking after visiting Cern, the European particle physics laboratory that has built the £2.6 billion Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to find the Higgs boson, he praised the collaborative work behind the project, adding that such future work could be jeopardised by a funding crisis surrounding particle physics in Britain..."

BBC - 4 April 2008Astronomers 'must make own case' "Astronomers must make the best case for their subject to government if they are to stave off further funding woes..."

Physics World - 3 April 2008Cuts threaten UK role at LHC "...Particle physicists accept that cuts to projects are inevitable, but many question the way in which projects were ranked. Combined with the council’s sudden decision in December for the UK to pull out of the International Linear Collider (the potential next big thing in particle physics after the LHC), some researchers have lost faith in the STFC management and fear the UK’s international standing in particle physics is being damaged..."

Science - 28 March 2008Last Collider Standing "...American physicists hope the answer lies in hosting the proposed International Linear Collider at Fermilab. But there's competition from Europe and Japan, and Congress has reduced funding this year for research on that multibillion-dollar machine...."

Daily Yomiuri Online - 13 March 2008Kibo typifies perils of international projects "...Japan, the United States and European countries are currently promoting the International Linear Collider (ILC) project, which will study superconductivity for future particle accelerators..."

Physics World - 29 February 2008Full steam ahead "...He also thinks CERN should become more involved in the International Linear Collider (ILC), which would use existing technology to achieve the same goal but would be more limited in energy..."

Physics World - 29 February 2008Editorial: The best job in physics? "...Other challenges on Heuer’s plate will be to plan for the LHC’s upgrade in 2015 and to ensure that CERN plays a greater role in the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC), which — if funded — would make precision studies of the Higgs boson, assuming that it is found at the LHC..."

physicworld - 22 February 2008Panel picked to review UK physics "The UK’s research councils have named the eight physicists who will take part in a review of the health of the country's physics..."

SLAC Today - 22 February 2008From the Director: Looking Forward "... We all know people who were laid off. We have worked with some of these individuals for years. These are our colleagues. In many cases these are our friends..."

BBC Radio 4 - 18 February 2008Today programme "Physicists meeting in Boston are grappling with the secrets of the Universe..." (starts 9 minutes into the clip)

ars technica - 16 February 2008AAAS: Large-scale collaborations in physics "... According to Dr. Barish, the LHC will lead the way and have large, broad reach, while the ILC will provide a second look with higher levels of precision..."

wired - 13 February 2008Budget Cuts Undermine U.S. Role in Atom-Smasher Project "... The construction of the so-called International Linear Collider, or ILC, is widely seen in the high-energy physics community as the field's next major step, and an important complement to the powerful laboratory opening at the Switzerland facility of the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, or CERN, later this year..."

physicsworld - 7 February 2008UK confirms withdrawal from ILC "... But despite strong protests from physicists, the STFC says in a statement released today that it has “reaffirmed its decision to stop funding the ILC”, which is seen as the next big experiment in particle physics after the Large Hadron Collider at CERN..."

interactions - 7 February 2008STFC Council Meeting "... The Council re-affirmed the decisions already taken with respect to withdrawal from the International Linear Collider [ILC] project and ground-based Solar-Terrestrial Physics [STP] facilities and confirmed its intention to negotiate a reduction in its investment in Gemini..."

nature - 5 February 2008Bush asks for more physics — again "...After a year of hardship, fusion and high-energy physics would see significant gains within the DOE’s Office of Science...."

symmetry magazine - December 2007New issue of symmetry magazine online "The latest issue of symmetry magazine is all about the Large Hadron Collider due for first collisions in a few months. It contains features on the machine itself as well as some of the science it is studying, including the elusive Higgs boson...."

Financial Times - 23 January 2008Science: Big Bang comes to the Alps "... The LHC is scheduled to receive a major upgrade in 2016, which should keep it going into the late 2020s. By then a global successor, the International Linear Collider or ILC, may be in operation..."

nature - 23 January 2008Shattered Illusions "Last-minute cuts to the research budget have left US scientists nervous about future funding. David Goldston looks at what Congress and the president might do next...."

BBC - 22 January 2008UK physics has 'brighter future' "... Another is the R&D work on the International Linear Collider, a giant machine that is intended to take our knowledge of particle physics to a higher level..."

Scientific American - February 2008Special Report: The Future of Physics "They call it the terascale. It is the realm of physics that comes into view when two elementary particles smash together with a combined energy of around a trillion electron volts, or one tera-electron-volt..."

Scientific American - February 2008Building the Next Generation Collider "To further investigate the intricacies of high-energy particle physics, researchers must construct a more powerful electron-positron colliderscience cities..." By Barry Barish, Nicholas Walker and Hitoshi Yamamoto (subscription required)

New Scientist - 19 January 2008Physics reels as the financial axe falls "DO OTHER planets like Earth exist? Is there a theory of everything? Could fusion provide cheap and unlimited energy? Physicists think they know how to find the answers to all of these questions. Yet late last month their ability to do so suffered a series of devastating blows..." (subscription required)

physicsworld - 9 January 2008Japanese particle physics in good health "The particle physics community started 2008 with a bad case of the January blues, thanks to major budget cuts announced by the US and UK just before Christmas. But some comfort may be taken from very positive plans for the future unveiled by the Japanese high-energy physics laboratory, KEK." you put it here as well..."

Nature - 9 January 2008Editorial: Don't panic "Whether to build the International Linear Collider is an open question, but R&D on it should be supported..."

New Scientist - 8 January 2008US physics begins to crumble under budget strain "...SLAC and the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois are the main US institutions involved in the International Linear Collider (ILC), a future $6.7 billion particle accelerator designed to recreate the conditions of the early universe..."

Daily Herald - 8 January 2008Batavia wants federal funding restored for Fermilab "...The 2008 budget cuts will primarily affect research and development on the International Linear Collider, the Super Conducting Radio Frequency Accelerator, and NOvA, a neutrino research program..."

Standford University news - 7 January 2008Federal budget cuts to impact key programs at SLAC "...Since one-quarter of FY08 has passed, the remaining 25 percent has already been spent; therefore, all work at SLAC related to the ILC stopped on January 1..."